Obesity and poverty...
Options
Replies
-
You logic is faulty. Junk food is cheaper per calorie. Sure. But don't we all know that it's too many calories that make you fat? Isn't that why we're all here - on a calorie counting site?
If people living on junk food just ate less of it, they'd not be obese. Skip the soda. Have a filet-o-fish instead of a double quarter pounder with cheese. Have small fries instead of large. And then don't spend your entire evening sat on the couch eating snack food. A little impulse control goes a long way.
Even if you can't afford to eat anything but McDonalds morning, noon and night, you can still moderate your calorie intake and not get fat.
Unless someone is holding you down and force feeding you, you can't absolve yourself of responsibility for your diet.
Amen!
It doesn't cost anything to take a walk. If your budget is tight, eating less in general is going to help with that. Of course this could be that the people I see, like me, with weight issues are not people living at the poverty level, but rather middle class level with enough money to pay for an SUV, take vacations to Hawaii, have premium cable and go out to eat on a regular basis. I'm sorry but if you can afford Showtime and HBO and trips to Disneyland, then you can afford to eat healthier.
I go to the 99 Cent Store regularly to help my food budget and while there is a lot of cheap junk food there, I can also get tuna (canned in water), whole wheat pita bread, lettuce, spinach, mangoes, tomatoes, bananas, apples, oranges, carrot sticks, sweet potatoes, spinach, frozen veggies, low cal dressing, salsa, potatoes, eggs, skim milk, whole wheat pasta, pasta sauce, string cheese, peanut butter, oatmeal, raisins, bottled water, Crystal Light packets for my water, trail mix as well as plastic ware containers to carry my food to work for lunch, plus purchasing dry goods like toilet paper, paper towels, sandwich bags, garbage bag, laundry and dish detergent, kitchen utensils and the like to allow me more money for expensive items like chicken and fresh fish at a regular grocery store. (I know some people get nervous getting produce from there because it doesn't look pretty. But having grown up with veggies growing in my backyard, I can tell you most of it doesn't look pretty. Regular stores just pick the iced looking ones and then leave the rest for stores like this one.)
Yes, some people lack the education to pick the ideal foods, but with free apps like this one around, there's no reason to not at least eat the right amount of calories to lose weight. Cost only comes in when dealing with the quality of those calories, but for purely weight loss reasons, it doesn't matter where the calories come from, just how many you consume.0 -
I am a blessed poor married mother of 6. I am blessed because I have a huge garden and yard. At the end of the summer I can and freeze everything. I spent the money to buy fruit trees and berry bushes. I grow all organic. Doing this has saved me $1000's for the couple of hundred I spent on the trees. I have 2 apple trees, 3 cherries, this year I am adding pears and plums. I also have elderberries, red white pink and black currents, strawberries, red and yellow raspberries gooseberries and 3 huge rhubarbs. In the garden I grow every year corn, tomatoes, beans, potatoes, onions, squash, zucchini, pumpkins and okra. I then start all the herbs I can grow here in Minnesota which are basil, oregano, fennel, cilantro, thyme, mints garlic and lavender. So I don't have to spend on fresh fruits and veggies for 90% of the year. We buy 1 cow 2 hogs and about 50 chickens a year from a local farmer. I do all of this and some years we have been down to 12,500 a year and not 1 of my kids have ever missed a meal and we have a family of 8.
The problem is that we have gotten away from the basics. Nobody has a clue where their food is coming from and they aren't educated enough to know to care. If you are given food stamps you can go to the store and buy what you want. That includes pop candy, boxed meals. They walk past the produce isle and go straight for the chips and cookies. The best thing they could do is limit what people can buy. It's time to say no you can't buy anything prepared. Just because you have to take it home and toss it in the microwave or the oven means no you can't buy it. Wonder why you run out of money on your EBT card at the end of the month? It's because you went to the gas station and bought a 4 dollar burrito every day, or a $10 take and bake pizza a couple of times a week. That money goes way faster than it should. My sister in-law gets food stamps about $ 1000.00 and runs through them in a weeks because of what she buys.
People in HUD housing have to pay $150 to start a garden that is only 10x10. Funny part is you could grow $1000 worth of food in that every year.Which would save the government money in food stamps and medcaid in the health benifits. Because they would be outside working and eating better food.
The problem is lack of education about nutrition, availablity of chemical laden processed prepackage crap, instead of real food!0 -
when I was in Morroco, I was surprised by how much cheaper it was to eat healthy than to eat fast food. this was during the Arab spring when morrocans were peacefully demonstrating against there king. I came back thinking well maybe there is a correlation but not really, it just take more effort to eat healthy here and sometimes hard when you're trying to make ends meet. mass production and automation won't make it any easier but eating healthy even when you're poor can be done. anything is possible just takes more planning.0
-
I didn't say "why doesn't she get a job" (she was quoting somebody else) , My response was to her handing out excuses. We all know that there are programs everywhere to help people in most of these cases.
Do you have any idea how hard it is to get approved for these programs. I used to get a family first card and I only got 90$ A MONTH for food.
I've been underemployed since 2009. Places are running out of help to give.
As I said- I have been there. If you only get approved for $90 per month, clearly they didn't think your income proved you to need more. When I was on those programs we were offered MORE programs but we didn't take them because we didn't want to take more than we thought we needed.0 -
They don't have to use it all at one time. In fact any unused money goes to the next month.I work with a very poor community and the problem I see is that at the first of the month they have so much money in food stamps. Now to feed a family of 4 they have to budget that money to last the month, so say they live in a small apartment with only limited food storage. They can buy a few pieces of bulk food and fresh meats and produce. This has to last the month. It's not prudent to spend your EBT money on produce that could rot quickly. You can buy shelf stable food and know that it will last the month. Milk will spoil quickly, so it's easier to buy juice and soda. You could buy sweet potatoes, but those will rot if not used right away potato chips last forever.
Theres so many factors as to why we are seeing obesity with poverty including manufacturers targeting the lower income. This is not only a problem in America. Many emerging post-colonial countries are also seeing a section of their poor population now obese.
You could get a PhD studying this.0 -
Lets Keep in mind- the topic is not "are poor people lazy" the topic is "Obesity and Poverty" - Regardless of the reasons for poverty is poverty a reason to be obese? No.. but it's a great excuse.0
-
I completely agree with you. It's much harder for poor families to buy healthy, good-quality food. I went through this myself.0
-
Part of the other problem is cooking skills. Great a bag of chickpeas is cheap, but if you don't know what to do with them what good are they?? People aren't taught how to COOK nutritious meals these days. Kale, another super yummy and nutritious food, but again...if you don't have a clue how to prepare it in a way that you and your family would enjoy...it would just go to waste.
I couldn't agree more - there are a lot of cheap healthy food out there but, if you don't know how to prepare it, or your family won't eat it you're wasting your money.0 -
I live in an impoverished area in the foothills of East Tennessee. There are folks selling produce every mile down the road and a farmers market in every community. That's the way a lot of people make $. There are 5 walmarts within 20 miles of my house and two amish stores on the way home. The amish stores carry bulk items too.
I can't speak for inner city areas but this is what we have out in the country.While i agree with you to an extent i'll also argue that yes you can feed a family of 4 for less than $200 a week. My Weekly grocery budget is 1/2 of that! I buy in bulk and also shop seasonal fruits and veggies. I also shop at farmers markets and a little amish shop that is in my neighborhood. Its not just what they are eating, but the quantity.
Are there a lot of bulk grocers, farmers markets and amish shops in inner cities or in impoverished rural areas in the Deep South or Appalachia?0 -
Agreed. I was in a supermarket on my lunch break a few months ago. This store has an amazing food bar. Of course you pay by weight and it can get quite expensive. A couple in front of me paid 40.00 for their food with an EBT card.. I had nothing else to say. My mother could have gotten groceries for the week with that. But unfortunately we didn't qualify for Food stamps when I was a kid since she wouldn't quit her retail job to qualify.I know plenty of people who get food stamps and they have a hell of a lot more options that I do as I actually have to pay for my food. If they chose to they could buy fruits, vegetables, lean meats, etc but usually choose not to. Besides getting food stamps if they have kids under 5 they get WIC (fruit, veg, beans, juice, milk FREE) in addition to their stamps their kids get free lunch at school. Please don't try and blame this on anything other than personal responsibility. People get every opportunity to make good decisions
My government professor told us a story once about when he was in the grocery store and this lady was complaining about not having enough food stamps to feed her and her kids for the month... what did she have in her basket? Steaks, produce that wasn't on sale, and other high ticket items... he took her back and taught her how to shop to make it last longer and to have more meals with it.
That was noble of him. Maybe I'm naïve, but why would one need to be taught how to shop? I'm not being funny. But you have 4 kids, your budget is say 100.00. why would a person buy the most expensive meat? Doesn't the human need to survive kick in? I know for me. If I have a certain amount to spend on food I make it last. I buy off brand when I need to and named brand when I can. Its all a matter of finding the best bargain. I bet when these same folks who say they don't know how to shop, hit the mall, they know how to find a bargain. I'm sure they are shopping on the clearance rack..
Because people aren't held accountable for their decisions any more. There is no thought of consequences for actions. We live in a country of entitlement where the less you do the more you get. Of course there are people who use the system to get ahead but there seem to be far more who manipulate it to get more more more. I've seen it first hand by family members and "friends" and every single person I know on assistance takes advantage of it.0 -
I'm from Mississippi. I didn't grow up in poverty, but the meals and snacks we ate weren't always the healthiest. My dad, mom, and sister, who were reasonable weights, all ate or had access to the same foods that I ate, but I chose to eat a lot more (and more frequently) and chose to be less active that they were. I'm the only person to blame for my physical condition as are MOST overweight people.0
-
I think it is offensive to equate poverty with lack of knowledge and education. Due to the struggling economy, even people with PhDs can be under the poverty line. I know of many intellectuals that have had trouble making ends meet. This type of thinking is stereotyping plain and simple and it is sadly quite prevalent in this entire thread.
On the other hand, I do agree with the interesting posts about this topic.
Yes educated people can be poor, but it often the combination of a lack of education and poverty that leads to poor eating habits. I know I could eat healthily for dirt cheap if I had to, but that's because I have had the resources to learn how to do so. If your struggle is with whether you have enough money to eat anything, nutrition may not be your priority so much as just making it through the day.0 -
Do you think that most of these people don't have internet or internet access? It takes 5 minutes to get on google or pinterest and find loads of healthy, cheap recipes.
I cant afford internet at home...and i dont have a computer either. what makes you think that "these people" would have internet access? i can only get on here from work...0 -
If you go to the grocery and buy enough fresh, whole food to feed a family of four for a week, you'll likely spend no less than $200. Good, fresh, real food is terribly expensive. Crap food is not! A cheeseburger, fries, and coke at McDonalds cost $3. A salad at McDonalds cost $6. Fresh produce and meat is expensive compared to ramen noodles and Vienna sausages. It's next to impossible for people living in poverty to eat healthy food!
I don't know how to fix that, but I know that something needs to change if we're going to solve the obesity epidemic in this country!
I believe the paragraph above is what is wrong with the obesity/poverty situation. Okay, a cheeseburger, coke and fries is $3 at McDonals. Yippee. You just ate one small meal. And for a family of four, you just spent $12 on one friggin' meal.
For the price of two of those small meals you could easily prepare a big filling healthy meal for 4 people at home.
Fresh produce is not necessary for "healthy" eating. Ramen noodles are not "crap food" and can be part of a healthy meal. Ounce for ounce, Vienna Sausages are not much cheaper than canned tuna or frozen white fish.
What we need to "fix" is the notion that one must live on "clean" foods to be healthy. Give me $200 and I'll feed your family of 4 healthy meals for a month.0 -
I live in an impoverished area in the foothills of East Tennessee. There are folks selling produce every mile down the road and a farmers market in every community. That's the way a lot of people make $. There are 5 walmarts within 20 miles of my house and two amish stores on the way home. The amish stores carry bulk items too.
I can't speak for inner city areas but this is what we have out in the country.While i agree with you to an extent i'll also argue that yes you can feed a family of 4 for less than $200 a week. My Weekly grocery budget is 1/2 of that! I buy in bulk and also shop seasonal fruits and veggies. I also shop at farmers markets and a little amish shop that is in my neighborhood. Its not just what they are eating, but the quantity.
Are there a lot of bulk grocers, farmers markets and amish shops in inner cities or in impoverished rural areas in the Deep South or Appalachia?
I grew up in the I/C of New York City, and I always knew where to go for what and which mom and pop shops had the best prices. So to answer your question is yes. of course gentrification has since made it harder but you still can if you work out it.
there's also urban gardens which I love cause come harvest, the food goes to the most in need.0 -
As someone who actually came from a poverty-stricken background, allow me to shed a little light on a lot of people's situation. I'm not going to give my opinion on the topic itself, just some information for other people to consider before they do. If you haven't been horribly poor you really do not have any idea of how to guess what you'd do in the situation.
1) Sometimes your family has no way to get to a grocery store often, so you shop at what's nearby, usually at convenience stores. Most convenience stores do not sell fruits and vegetables, only non-perishable items. Sometimes the nearest grocery store sucks, and you can't afford any better.
1.5) When you have little money, you want your food to feed many mouths and/or last a long time. With most perishables being at a week or so, the incentive to buy is very low.
2) Sometimes there is literally no yard or even a patio/balcony. You are apartment 15F in a 20-story building full of people just like you. No one is doing any gardening.
2.5) No grocery store owner in is right mind wants to open a grocery store in your neighborhood because he doesn't want to be robbed, or have people steal his merchandise.
3) Your live with your mother who works 2 jobs.
4) Your dad pays no child support and doesn't pick you up to have dinner or go to the park for a run.
5) When your mom wants to make you smile, she buys you candy and "treats". The neighbors give you candy and treats, too, because you and your friends are good kids, and candy is cheap.
6) You're not taught nutrition in school. You go to a school that sucks because it gets almost no funding because the students do poorly on their tests, and your teacher spends half the day disciplining other students. He or she spends one third of the school year preparing you for standardized tests that most students will fail.
6.5) Schools themselves are serving students things that are not healthful. Pizza (recently deemed a vegetable in the US, by the way) tater tots, and brown meat served with instant potatoes isn't setting the best example.
7) People in poverty usually have very little education. Don't assume they should know they need to eat healthier.
8) They are raised to keep hunger away (just as our public school food system continues to model), not to be nutritionally balanced. Think of comfort foods, and remember why they bring comfort. They're filling and swimming in salt and butter or grease, and they make you feel good.
9) Your brain associates hunger with stress. Your mom can't afford to buy a better car, a couch that has all 4 legs and no rips in it, a coffee maker to replace her old one, but she will be damned if she can't feed you and you have to feel what she felt when she was a hungry little kid living just like you do now.
Yup!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!0 -
There are many ways that people can get foods cheaper. In certain times of year, couldn't we GROW our own food? It is educational, cheap, and healthy. You can grow fresh fruits and veggies in containers and as long as they get some sunlight and water, they will grow. I remember living in an apartment where I was growing veggies in a container garden, and the neighbor girls were so fascinated, so I tried to teach them about gardening. It is sad when we come to a point where children don't know how food is grown. Yes, I realize that it may not feed your entire family, but it can supplement your food source. I think it is even fun trying new things to grow and experiment with.0
-
This is the best and truest response to this topic I've read. Thank you.I think it is a combination of factors:
In many impoverished countries people are thin, and I think a big part of that is: 1) highly processed foods aren't available 2) people cook because they have to.
A lb of beans isn't expensive...they are very nutritious. But, if you don't know how to make them, you don't know how long they'll keep...you aren't going to make them.
My parents were working poor and we lived on beans, low fat hamburgers my mom made and froze over the weekends, oatmeal and vegetables from her garden which she canned for the winter months. But, all of this takes some basic knowledge of cooking/cooking science which most of us (rich and poor alike) lack.
I detest it when people "blame" parents. I'm a parent, I know lots of other parents...rich, poor or in the middle you do the very best you can with what you are given. Walk in the shoes of someone who is living paycheck to paycheck, who can't take her kids to the park because of drug deals and gang wars,whose kids can't play outside cause they'll get caught in gang crossfire or be sexually assaulted or recruited as a runner for a drug lord, who isn't using her stove because the slum lord turned off the utilities... Many families are hanging by their fingers just trying to survive...
If you are living in a constant state of threat, you're not clipping coupons and doing menu planning...being poor is a full time job which leave you in a state of exhaustion.0 -
Fast food is sugar usually so that means instant happy, when life is crappy instant happy is very tempting0
-
Do you think that most of these people don't have internet or internet access? It takes 5 minutes to get on google or pinterest and find loads of healthy, cheap recipes.
I cant afford internet at home...and i dont have a computer either. what makes you think that "these people" would have internet access? i can only get on here from work...
One word : Library.
Rumor has it they may have cookbooks available too.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 392K Introduce Yourself
- 43.6K Getting Started
- 259.8K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.7K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 401 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.8K Motivation and Support
- 7.9K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.4K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 995 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.4K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions